Los Angeles songstress Ramona Gonzalez began home-recording dark dance music in 2008, attracting the attention of blogspots and boutique labels with her soulful voice, lo-fi post-disco beats, and distinct sense of weirdo minimalism. In between philosophy classes at Occidental College, she recorded straight to a portable eight-track cassette recorder. Those tracks became her first singles on Italians Do It Better, Mexican Summer, and Gloriette Records, and eventually her 2008 LP, Good Evening. Her sophomore record, and debut for Secretly Canadian, is a more proper recording endeavor. Having lost the grainy production, her hazy beats are cleaner and more expansive. Of the nine '80s-inspired tracks, highlights are the spaced-out, angular stoner pop and layered harmonies of "She's Always Watching You," the ethereal vocals and minimal guitar of "Unearthly Delights," and the R&B undertones of "In the Dark." The title track is a good place to start. Much like the rest of the LP, it's a tempered synth-funk rager, equally fit for late-night dance floors as mid-morning headphone vibing. It's fitting that Gonzalez is also a multimedia artist whose video and sound installations have appeared around Los Angeles: One Second of Love is artfully crafted.

Brite Futures | Dark Past A few years ago, the cutesy teens in Natalie Portman's Shaved Head slid out of Seattle on the hot pink shoulders of robo-bounce kinda-hit "Me + Ur Daughter" and the cheap intrigue of a ridiculous moniker.

Grimes | Visions The debut record from Grimes, an alias of the Montreal-based Boucher, kicks off the peculiarity parade by presenting song titles steeped in cutesy affectation.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour | Out of Frequency Getting a boost with songs from their 2009 debut, Fruit , featured in iPod and Heineken ads, and getting handpicked as concert openers by a then-still-functioning Amy Winehouse in their native Copenhagen, the Asteroids Galaxy Tour rode a lucky streak out of the gate.

The Very Best | MTMTMK "World music" is an archaic label, but there's no better way to describe the Very Best's MTMTMK .

Purity Ring | Shrines Ever imagined what it would be like to hear an angel-voiced woman recite a book of fairy tales in the back of a nightclub at 2 am as drowsy synth lines float through the speakers?

COLLECTIVE THINKING @ BLANC GALLERY | March 06, 2013 In 2010, a group of 20-something art and music enthusiasts transformed an unassuming basement space on Vancouver Street into YES.OUI.SI., a multi-media gallery and gathering spot for young talents that hosted dozens of visual-art shows, film screenings, literary readings, and experimental music performances.

BEACH FOSSILS | CLASH THE TRUTH | February 20, 2013 Last year in an interview with the Phoenix , Dustin Payseur of Beach Fossils said his sophomore album would be inspired by "a lot of frustration from a lot of different sources."

ICEAGE | YOU'RE NOTHING | February 11, 2013 There's something intriguing about the ways Copenhagen punk band Iceage seem simultaneously to care so much and so little.